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A−History
History · Ellis

Ellis’ post office opened in 1870, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 76% of U.S. towns. What drives it

4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1870.

1870first post office
4on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ellis’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ellis began

When was Ellis founded?

1870

The Ellis post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 120 in 18702020 census: 1,958156 years

How historic is Ellis?

A−

More historic than 76% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Ellis post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Ellis’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ellis is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ellis’ overall grade.
Founding era1870, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194031.6% of homes (±8.3) · typical KS town 10.3% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register4 listings, 18.3 per 10,000 residents · typical KS town 5.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 76%
NewerOlder

Kansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kansas town has 5.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Ellis’ 18.3 sits above most of its state (78% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Ellis’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18934 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1985. Watch Ellis change.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,649 in 1950; 1,958 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1905 to 1920, drew every building in Ellis.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ellis’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ellis’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewOn President Roosevelt's journey throug…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Ellis on the map, 1893 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ellis. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Ellis on the 1893 USGS mapEllis on the 1961 USGS mapEllis on the 1979 USGS mapEllis on the 1985 USGS map1893Ellis sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ellis.

People over time

Ellis, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,50018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,649

Peaked at 2,649 in 1950; 1,958 people lived here in 2020.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ellis’ Wikipedia page.

The story

How Ellis came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ellis.

Read it all →

The Kansas Pacific Railway built a water station at the site of present-day Ellis in 1867 and then purchased the site under the Homestead Act. Three years later, in 1870, the U.S. Post Office Department opened a post office at Ellis, marking the town's foundation. Kansas Pacific laid out the town in 1873, establishing a depot, a hotel, and a few shops. That same year, settlers from Syracuse, New York, and later from Louisville, Kentucky, arrived to work for the railroad. The first church opened in Ellis in 1873, the first school in 1874. Starting in 1875 and for the rest of the 1870s, Ellis was a cowtown, serving as a shipping point for cattle herds from the south. Bukovina Germans began settling in the area in 1886. Ellis incorporated as a city in January 1888.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ellis, 1870 to 1950

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870Post officeThe Ellis post office opens
  3. 1870Post officeThe Ellis post office closes
  4. 1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1903In the archiveOn President Roosevelt's journey through the west - splendid reception at Ellis, Kansas
  7. 1908BuiltEllis Congregational Church is built
  8. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 2,649
By decade

Ellis, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
On President Roosevelt's journey through the west - splendid reception at Ellis, Kansas1903On President Roosevelt's journey through the west - s…
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Date unknown1 to date
EllisbigcreekDate?Ellisbigcreek
Today3 recent
Ellis Kansas 5-7-20142014Ellis Kansas 5-7-2014Detailed map of2010Detailed map ofMapKSMap-doton-Ellis2004KSMap-doton-Ellis
Every building

Ellis, building by building, 1905–1920

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Ellis fire insurance map, 1905, sheet 11905Sheet 1 of 3
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

On President Roosevelt's journey through the west - splendid reception at Ellis, Kansas
Retake this viewOn President Roosevelt's journey through the west - splendid reception at Ellis, Kansas, 1903

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Ellis’ page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

4 historic places in Ellis

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1972
Walter P. Chrysler House
Walter P. Chrysler HouseEllis Congregational Church, built 1908Merchants Bank of EllisMemorial City Hall
Buildings
Walter P. Chrysler HouseBuilding
Ellis Congregational ChurchBuilt 1908
Merchants Bank of EllisBuilding
Memorial City HallBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Ellis had its own post office from 1870 to 1870.

Ellis
1870–1870
18701950today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ellis
Mount HopeSaint Mary's

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Ellis’ history

What year was Ellis founded?

The Ellis post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Ellis rank for history?

Ellis is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Ellis?

4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Walter P. Chrysler House (listed 1972, the first).

How old are the homes in Ellis?

32% of Ellis’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.3 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1965.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.